


For the Want of a Snail

by CaptainJZH



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Animal Death, Babysitting, Crying, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Pre-Canon, Prompt Fic, Toddlers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:41:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27526276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainJZH/pseuds/CaptainJZH
Summary: Prompt: Toddler Steven steps on a snail by accident and cries. Garnet helps calm him down.
Relationships: Garnet & Steven Universe
Comments: 4
Kudos: 37





	For the Want of a Snail

**Author's Note:**

  * For [E350tb](https://archiveofourown.org/users/E350tb/gifts).



Steven was crying. He was four years old, and the Beach House was still under construction, so naturally Greg couldn’t be with him  _ all  _ the time. Today, Garnet was given babysitting duty.

“Steven,” she began. “You’re crying.”

In between sobs, the half-Gem toddler nodded. Behind her visor, Garnet frantically searched her future vision for the cause of Steven’s tantrum. 

“You hurt yourself,” she guessed.

Steven shook his head.

“You hurt something else.”

Steven nodded, tears still pouring down his cheeks.

“Tell me what got hurt,” Garnet instructed.

Steven pointed to a snail that laid on the ground near him, its shell cracked. It was either dead or close to it. Garnet smiled with sympathy and sat the boy down on some nearby rocks. She picked up the lifeless snail, cradling it in her hands.

“You feel bad because you hurt the snail,” Garnet said. “It’s okay to feel bad. It’s a living thing just like you and me. But at the end of the day… You didn’t mean any harm. It was an accident.”

“I… I… I guess…” Steven said, his tears slowly stopping. “But...what can we do now? We can’t...fix it! It’s  _ dead!” _

“No,” Garnet said, thinking about what to say next. “But we can give the snail a proper burial. It’s a way to say goodbye, when someone leaves us unexpectedly.”

And so they held a mini-funeral for the snail, which Steven had posthumously nicknamed “Jerry Snailfeld.” A small hole was dug into the beach sand, and Steven placed Jerry inside.

“On this day, we honor Jerry Snailfeld,” Garnet said, “a snail whose life brought other snails great joy, and whose death reminds us that all of us... _ most  _ of us are only mortal.”

Steven took out his ukelele and played “Amazing Grace” as the tide came in and carried Jerry out to sea.

“I was not expecting that,” Garnet admitted.

“Bye Jerry Snailfeld!” Steven waved. “Go to Snail Heaven!”

Greg looked over at Garnet from the construction site. Garnet gave him a thumbs-up.  


She was pretty good at this ‘mom’ thing.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my bestie E350 for the prompt! He does great art and fics so check him out.


End file.
